The local Collective Investment Schemes (CIS) industry grew its total assets under management by R69-billion to R996-billion in 2011, narrowly missing the R1-trillion mark. Releasing the 2011 Domestic and Foreign CIS statistics at a media conference in Johannesburg yesterday, Leon Campher, CEO of the Association for Savings and Investment South Africa (ASISA), said while the […]

The Blue Ink Composite (BIC), which tracks the performance of around 100 Hedge Funds in South Africa, recorded an 8.65% increase in 2011, outperforming the JSE All Share Total Return Index (ALSI) by more than 6%. This outperformance was achieved with significantly less volatility levels than the local equity market. According to Eben Karsten, portfolio […]

According to insurance claims statistics released by Altrisk for January 2011 to December 2011, cancer is the leading cause of all insurance claims across critical illness, income protection and life cover, followed by accidental causes and cardiovascular disease. The statistics illustrate: In terms of critical illness insurance claims, 78% of all claims paid were for […]

By Rowan Burger: Head of Investment Strategy at Liberty Retail South Africa As a South African it’s time to seriously think about your retirement plan and be cognisant of our changing world of work. In the UK, twenty year olds are three times more likely to get to 100 than their grandparents. A quarter of […]

By Tasneem Gangat, Tax consultant, Grant Thornton Johannesburg The introduction of the new dividends tax (DWT), coming into effect from 1 April this year, will require that dividend tax is paid to SARS by the company, on behalf of the shareholder, before the dividend is paid out in full and will be levied at a […]

Vehicle owners are being hit hard with thefts of valuables from parked cars as car jamming gangs targets shopping centres and schools in the northern suburbs. A report on the front page of the Star newspaper today (25 Jan) says a dramatic shootout unfolded at Bryanston Parallel Medium Primary School between police officers and a […]

The end of the tax year is a good time to maximise the tax breaks SARS allows on retirement annuities (RAs) by topping up yours with an additional contribution. Perhaps you’ve earned a bonus, or put aside money for a rainy day that never came. If to date you’ve contributed less than the maximum tax-deductible […]

2011 was a difficult year for South African investors with tumbling markets, soaring volatility and a flailing rand making the investing environment a nerve-wracking one. With this in mind, it is crucial to choose the right stocks, so that the year ahead is perfectly positioned for superior returns. As we head into the New Year, […]

Government’s planned retirement reforms are set to provide South Africans better protection and an enhanced deal from the financial services industry, yet if this new model is to prove successful, it is critical that reform is structured in a sustainable manner in the long term. This is according to Willem Loots, head of umbrella fund […]

According to Johann Els, senior economist at OMIGSA’s Economic Research Unit, South African’s need to brace themselves for yet another year of unbridled market volatility as global events emanating from the north, west and east continue to impact locally. Says Els, ‘We have identified three key global risks that will determine how events play out […]